Pressed-steel truck-frame for cars



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' C. T. SGHOEN.

PRESSED STEEL TRUCK FRAME FOR CARS.

Patented July 9, 1895. e,

(No'fiodeL) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

t 0. T. SOHOEN. I PRESSED STEEL TRUCK FRAME FOR. CARS. No. 542,427.

"UW E F sum-S PATENT omen.

CHARLES 'r. SGHOEN, F ALLEGHENY,.IPENNSYLVANIA" 'PIRESSED-VSTEELTRUCK-FRAME FOR CIARS.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,427, dated July 9,1895. A lication filed A ri18, 1895. serial in, 544,917. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, CHARLES T. ScHoEN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Allegheny, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Pressed Steel Truck-Frames for Cars, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to construct a railway-car truck whollyor in some of its 1; main parts of pressed steel or other equivalentlight and strong wrought metal capable of being shaped in-dies or bysimilar processes or apparatus.

The present invention comprises the side I frames and the spring-plankor channel and brake-beaIn-hanger brackets, all as I will proceed nowmore particularly to set forth, and finally claim.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a planView of a truck-frame and the brakebeams. Fig. 2 is a side elevation.Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical half-section and elevation. Fig. 4 is atransverse section on a larger scale taken in the'plane of line 4 4,Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on a larger scale taken in theplane of line 5 5, Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a transverse section on a largerscale taken in the plane of line 6 6, Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a section takenin the plane of line 7 7, Fig. 2. Fig.8 is a section taken in the planeof line 8 8, Fig. 2. Fig. 9 is a detail of the joint between the lowerarch-bar and the channel or springplank. Fig. 10 is a vertical sectionof one half of a modified form of spring-plank, and Fig. 11 is a planview-of the other half of such spring-plank, and Fig. 12 is an endelevation of the spring-plank shown in Figs. 10 and 11.

Ihave illustrated my invention as embodied in a diamond or truss frame,a being the upper arch-bar, b the lower arch-bar, and c the tie bar orstrap. As shown more particularly in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, these Variousmembers of the frame are made as channels, and the upper member a ismade at its ends sufficiently wider than the lower member to receive theflanges of the said lower member within it and between its flanges inorder to stiffen and reinforce thc parts. Moreover, and as shown in Fig.1 more particularly, the upper member a is made narrower between itsends, so that its side flanges will be of greater depth at. the point ofgreatest strain, thereby to reinforce it. The ends of the lower memberI; are of a Width adapted to fit between the flanges on top of theMaster Oar Builders standard journal-box. Ordinary bolts 01 are used toconnect the meeting ends of the upper and lower members and the tieplate or bar 0, and between the bolts the journal-boxes are arranged asusual. Flanged holes 6 are made in the upper member for the reception ofthe bolts d, and cavities or countersinks e are made at the upper outeredgesof these flanged holes in order to receive the'heads of boxed in attheir ends and their ends fitted between the flanges of the upper andlower members, as more fully shown in detail, Figs. 7 and 8'. Thesecolumns are riveted to the members a and b, sufficient surface beingretained to permit the use of preferably at least three rivets at eachend. Furthermore, these columns are also riveted to the side flanges ofthe spring=channel or spring-plank 2', three rivets preferably againbeing used for this union.

The spring-plank, of which two forms are shown, is pressed up of platemetal, such as steel, with a longitudinal depression '6, which serves asa bead to strengthen and reinforce the device and also affordscountersinks for the reception of bolts, as j, by which the tieplate aand said spring-plank are united. To adapt the spring-plank to the useof brakebeams arranged between the wheels, as shown in Fig. 1, the saidspring-plamknmay'have its sides bowed or curved inwardly, as thereinindicated, the metal displaced by such inward bowing being retained inthe flanges, and thereby preserving the strength, as well as increasingthe rigidity of the spring-planks. As shown in Figs. 10, 11, and 12, thecentral too depression 1" may be provided with end pockets i of greaterdepth than the central depression and of substantially equal depth tothe flanges or those portions of the flanges which are notched toreceive the lower archbar, so that the said spring-plank shall have amore extended bearing upon the said lower arcl1-bar. However, I do notlimit my invention in pressed-steel side frames to any particular kindof spring-plank or truck-channel; but I do esteem it as an essentialfactor in the construction of such truck-frames that the spring-plankshall extend continuously and rigidly from one side frame to theopposite side frame, and that such side frames shall be rigidlyconnected with the springplank, for example, as they are shown in Figs.1, 2, and 3, not only by the union of the lower member I) with suchspring-plank, but also by the riveting to said spring-plank of thecolumns it. As shown in Fig. 9, notches i may be made in the flanges ofthe springplank, in order to receive the upturned sides or flanges ofthe lower truss-member b, or, as shown in Fig. 10,a portion of theflanges may be out out, as at z'.

The bolster may be constructed of pressed steel, in accordance withinventions of mine patented May 17, 1892, No. 475,023, and November :27,1894, No. 529,809, and April 9, 1895, No. 537,076; but in so far as thepresent invention is concerned the bolster may profitably be modified intwo particulars: First, it may haveits ends outside of the frames. Theright-angle brackets Z and, the side hearings on may be made with abracket extension n, arranged parallel to the bracket Z, and serving asabutments against the truck-frames, in order to prevent longitudinaldisplacement and undue longitudinal play of the bolster. The sidebearing an and the bracket 11 may be struck up of one piece or mayotherwise be made. Second, in order to provide for the easy removal ofthe bolster there may be an inch, more or less, of play between the topsurface of the bolster and the bottom surface of the upper truss-member,so that the springs may be removed from beneath the bolster and thebolster then drawn out from between the columns h, and in order toprovide for such removal and at the same time prevent undue play of theends of the bolster between said columns the said bolster may be swelledout, as at 0, at points where it comes next the said columns, theseout-swellings being slightly in excess of the width of the bolster atits widest part. Obviously when the springs are removed the bolster isfree to drop onto the spring-plank, and, the distance between the top ofthe spring-plank and the bottom of the upper truss-member being greaterthan the height of the bolster at its highest point, it is obvious thatthe bolster may be pulled out from the truck laterally of the truck.

It is to be observed that the tie plate or bar 0, which frequently hasto be removed, is so united with the other parts of the frame that toetfect such removal it is only necessary to remove the nuts of thevarious bolts, and thereafter the remainder of the frame is leftundisturbed.

As has been already stated, the top memher a of the trussis narrower atthe center than at the points where it rests upon the journal-boxes, andthis construction is adopted because it is desirable to have this toparch-bar wide enough to permit its flanges to embrace the lower memberat their points of junction, and it is also, for economical reasons,desirable to manufacture these members or bars of plates of metal ofuniform width. Such manufacture is possible by narrowing between theends; and, inasmuch as such narrowing in width increases the depth ofthe flanges, the arch-bar as a whole is increased in strength to resistcompression. In the bottom member a reverse construction occurs byreason of the reversed conditions of strain; and, moreover, theincreased width of the lower member between its ends is taken advantageof to receive between its flanges a very considerable" width of thebottom It and permit the use of suflicient rivets to make a rigid union.

Some of the advantages accruing from my construction are that I can makea stronger frame with less metal than by the ordinary practice of makingthe arch-barsof flat metal,

or even by the use of rolled channels.

The ordinary practice is to use for the top memher a bar of metal oneand a quarter inches by four inches. The top and bottom arch-bars areconnected by means of one-and-a-quarte r-.

inch bolts passing through the column. This necessitatesdrillingaone-and-five'sixteenthinch hole through the bar, leaving three and Iuse a half-inch bar in three seven-eightlis-inch holes in line, so thatthe amount of metal taken out is equal only to one seven-eighihs-inchhole, and this is through half-inch metal, instead of throughone-and-a-quarter-inch metal, so that I have about three andthree-quarters square inches of metal remaining, thus makinga verylarge'percentage of gain in favor of the thinner metal. Again, the increase inthe depth of the flanges makes the frame very much stiffer. Again, inthe tensile or bottom member I have an amount of strength equal to thatexisting in the flat bar with the advantage of shaping it in its makingin the matter of width with such variations as are required to suit theconstruction called for. At present estimates the pressed-steel frameseffect a saving of from twenty to twenty-five per cent. in weightwithout any diminution in strength, but, on the contrary, with adecidedincrease in strength over the old construction.

Double-armed brackets 19, Figs. 1, 3, and 10 to 12, which may also be ofpressed steel, are bolted to the channel or spring-plank at points542,427 w is convenient to receive the suspensor-y links q of thebrakebeams. These brackets pare made with the mid-rib r to stiffen them.

A common practice in car construction is to bolt the columns on thetruck to the chan nel by means of bolts extending clear across thechannel, the columns being thus bolted on each side of the channel bythrough-bolts.

In a truck-channel employing the depressed mid-rib, as hereindescribed,it. would be necessary in order to adapt it to this construe:tion to drill holes through the said depression for the passage of thesethrough-bolts, and hence to provide for the use of these through-boltsin connection with this form of channel and at the same time avoid thenecessityof drilling holes through it, I punch Y theholes ,Fig. 10, in'the side flanges, and in the mid-rib 7;" I make the elevations t for thepassage of such through-bolts.

The enddepressi'ons i are of sufficient depth to be on a line with thenotched-out portions i as already indicated, so as to rest upon thearch-bars and thereby give a central steel required for thetruck-channel by following the construction indicated.

It is customary in hanging the brake-beams between the wheels to cookthe beams above or below the channel in order to obtain sufficient roomfor a brake-beam of considerable arch or chamber; but the betterpractice is to have the beams arranged to lie as flat or horizontally aspossible. By bowing the truck-channel, as hereiubefore described, I amenabled to use a brake-beam of considerable arch or chamber in itscompression member, and also at the same time arrange it flat orhorizontally between the wheels.

Ordinarily the brake-beams are hung from the bolster above; but inasmuchas the bolster vibrates up and. down, more or less, according to thedepression of the springs, a corresponding movement is imparted to the Ibrake-beams, which necessarily shifts the shoes when applied against thewheels to they detriment of the setting of the brakes. By the provisionof the brackets upon the stationary and immovable truck-channelorspring-plank I am enabled to obtain fixed supports for the brake-beamsand thus overcome the defects just noted.

As shown, the columns 71. are widened out toward their bases on thosewings which extend parallel to the spring-plank, such widened outwingstape ring from top to bottom, so as to and bracing the framesthroughout. In this construction the boxed-in ends fit in betweenthefianges of the top and bottom arch-bars, and the laterally-extendedwings may be notched out or cut away to fit over the flanges of thebottom arch-bars.

What I'claim is 1. A side for car trucks constructed of channel bars ofpressed steel having their flanges or sides arranged adjacent and havingtheirmeeting ends telescoped or int'erlapped, combined with connectingvertical columns rigidly united 'to them, substantially as described.

2. A truck frame comprising an upper arch bar made as a channel with itsflanges deepest between its ends, a lower arch bar widest between itsends and having its ends narper archbar, and connecting columns, sub

stantially as described.

3. In a truck frame, the combination of two sides, each comprising upperand lower channel arch bars having their flanges arranged adjacent andinterlapping at their ends, a springplank extending .from one side tothe other, a tie-bar, and vertical columns rigidly united to the archbars and to the spring plank and connecting them, substantially asdescribed.

4. A side frame for trucks composed of uppetand lower arch bars formedas channels, combined with vertical columns of L-shape in cross-sectionand boxed in at their ends and rigidly united, as by riveting, to theupper and lower arch bars, substantially as described.

5. In combination with the arch bars and their connecting columns, of abolster having lateral swells adapted to fit between said columns andhaving top brackets to engage the upper arch bar, thereby to preventlateral and endwise displacement of the bolster, and per: mit itswithdrawal endwise from the truck, substantially as described.

6. A truck channel or spring plank provided with a central longitudinaldepression having enlarged and deeper depressions at those points thatcome adjacent to the arch-bars of the truck, so as to extend to the saidarch-bars and be supported thereupon, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

7. A truck channel, or spring plank, of

'metal, bowed or contracted in its sides be- .steel brackets arrangedtransversely thereof and adapted to sustain the brake beams, substantially as described.

9. In a truck frame, vertical columns of L- shape in cross-section,boxed in at their ends and riveted to the arch-bars and having one oftheir Wings wider at the bottom than at the a top thereby afiordingmaterial for the reception of two or more rivets and serving to stiifenand brace the frame, substantially as described.

10. In a truck frame, the combination of top and bottom arch-bars, atruck channel or It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No.542,427, granted July 9, 1895, upon 5 the application of Charles T.Schoen, of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, for an improvement in fPressed-Steel Truck-Frames for Cars, errors appear in the printedspecificationl requiring correction, as follows In line 34, page 2, theword at shouldbe inserted after the word have, a comma should beinserted after the word ends, a comma should be substituted for theperiod after the word frames, and the following word The should commencewith a small t, making a continuous sentence in line 35, same page, v

a comma shouldbe inserted after the reference letter Z; in line 93, samepage, the word bottom should read column, and in lines 43 and 48, page3, the words chamber should read camber; and that the said LettersPatent should be read with these corrections therein that the same mayconform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed'this 16th day of July, A. D. 1895.

[sEAL.] JNO. M. REYNOLDS,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Countersigned i J OHN S. SEYMoUR,

Commissioner of Patents.

